Chapter 5

All right, all right. My look in the mirror was pretty satisfying.

The dress also looked fine and strong, with no threadbare sticking out or a single part. Compared to the mother and daughter I saw earlier, this party dress has a certain old color.

And most of all….

“You’re so beautiful.”

“There’s nothing in the praise.”

“No! It’s true!”

To be honest, I was pretty.

“Go wait for the carriage.”

“Yes.”

One of the maids left the room first, and I walked out of the room gently to make sure that my elaborate dress wouldn’t be ruined.

On my way to the entrance, I was greeted by the surprised sight of the employees I met. Most of the employees are new to me after my father’s death, so they’ve never seen me look like this before.

One attendant was enough, so only Leah accompanied me. She was stiff as if she was nervous about her first palace trip.

It’s been a few years since I went to the imperial palace, but … more than that, I was worried about whether things would work out today.

I’m not a daytime person, and it’s not the noble social style to talk and pretend to be friendly.

Ramona, with a cheerful personality, spoke to anyone first when she enters the empire’s society for the first time. She had a rough time. Even though she is a friend of the first prince and the young lord of Crescente, the noble bragged, saying a vulgar woman from a foreign country is behaving rudely.

It must have been an unacceptable behavior for those who value honor.

I’m the daughter of Duke Crescente, so at least I’m not a dreadful.

Leah began to hiccup when she saw the palace outside the window. Fortunately, she stopped by the time I got off the carriage.

The servant, who was guarding the hall, bowed down as he saw us coming.

“I’d like to see the invitation, please.”

He carefully checked whether the item was counterfeit and shouted after checking the name of the recipient.

“Lady Adriana Crescente is entering!”

The sound of the servant’s voice changed the atmosphere inside the hall. Those who talked calmly and quietly began to respond loudly.

As I stepped inside, the chattered hall was silenced.

Countless people’s eyes were turned this way.

It was when I smiled lightly to look calm.

Crank!

The glass cracked.

As I turned to them, Marianne and Sharon looked pale.

Below Marianne’s feet was a shard of broken glass.

Marianne’s lips sweetened as if she wanted to say something but it didn’t come out. Sharon stood with her mouth wide open, forgetting her dignity.

Unlike the two who forgot to speak, I approached the scene as if I had not notice.

“Mother! Are you all right? Are you hurt anywhere?”

No one was hurt, but Marianne stumbled. Sharon supported her, and the maids quickly stepped toward and cleaned up the broken glass. Fortunately, there seemed to be no secondary victims from the glass fragments.

“You there! Get ready to go to the rest room for my mother to rest! Get out of here!”

Sharon’s evil temper made the maids reintegrate quickly.

While watching the back my stepmother and sister who were heading to the rest room, I could hear voices from my surrounding.

“Lady Adriana Crescente coming, really?”

“I heard she’s out of her mind. I don’t know if it’s okay for her to come out.”

“You should not be deceived by her appearance….”

These are the young girls who were with Sharon a while ago. It looked like they’re Sharon’s pack.

Perhaps their chatter is not really about sharing opinions between themselves, but about influencing the atmosphere around them.

I can’t say it enough to be heard.

The effect was so powerful that even the others who heard the conversation couldn’t approach me easily.

I glanced slowly around at a speed that didn’t seem frivolous. Everyone looked at me with a sideways glance, but when our eyes met, they turned their heads and talk to each other.

Where should I start if I want to break my prejudice and blending with everyone naturally?

When I was thinking about it and picked up a glass of drink, I could feel the popularity approaching me.

As I turned around, there was a beautiful silver-haired woman with a smile on her face.

It was Princess Cynthia.

“You’re the young lady of Crescente, aren’t you?”

“Yes, Your Royal Highness.”

“Thank you for coming. I almost felt sad because I thought you weren’t coming.”

“I’m sorry … and I’m so glad you invited me.”

Oh, the hairpin!

She wore the black crystal hairpin that I gave her. Seeing that I’ve come to this position, she must have liked it.

The princess said to the women in the line after her.

“The person who gave me this hairpin is Lady Adriana Crescente.”

“I see. You have a really good taste.”

Perhaps because of the fact that the antique and beautiful hairpin was my present, it was a light flutter around me. Her Highness, the Princess also looked very happy.

“Hu-uh, everyone was saying that these hairpin was beautiful. I love it too.”

“I’m so glad you liked it, Your Highness.”

“Now that I’ve received this gift, I have to pay you back, right? I’m going to have a small tea party later, so I hope Lady Adriana will join me.”

“You don’t have to do that. But if you invite me, it’s an honor.”

Seeing me talking with the princess, I felt the atmosphere around me was slightly different.

Besides, isn’t Her Royal Highness a full-face cloth?

People who just glanced at me started to get a little closer.

“I met you for the first time, Lady Adriana Crescente. My name is Albert Rinock.”

“I am Chris Rafisel, Lady Adriana.”

At first, everyone could not get around me easily, but as more and more people surrounded me, people who just stood nearby and even those who were standing far from the place started to join the group.

It was a real relief. Bad rumours about me have been inflated for years. Since the two women gave them firewood, it was impossible to disappear from people’s memories. There was even the incitement of Sharon’s group.

If Her Highness the Princess had not greeted me first and treated me amiably, I could have been isolated and returned without receiving any harvest.

My expression didn’t show it, but I was very relieved.

A short time later, when Marianne and Sharon came back, my surroundings were already full of people. A few wives and young ladies found their figure, and began to cling together and chat.

Maybe they’re asking about my sudden appearance. They’ll naturally have a pretty hard time answering.

“But why hasn’t Lady Adriana shown up so far?”

A young lady asked. Others seemed to pay attention to whether the rumors were true or not. Contrary to rumors, I was able to make eye contact and talking to people.

Hm? What shall I say? Should I expose everything that Marianne and Sharon have done here?

No, it’s not a good way. If I take off my stepmother and sister’s mask here, I may be satisfied inside, but it’s hard to get rid as her daughter.

Having no power to stand on my own feet yet, I’m in a position to live with the Duchess of Crescente, whether I want to be or not.

If I talk about my life under pressure, they might say a few sympathize words, but is there anyone who will do something more than that for the good of another family whom they met for the first time today?

In addition, it was done by the Duchess of Crescente. They don’t want to butt in and scratch it.

And even if I don’t care about Marianne, Sharon, and Rudolf, I still have my brother who is a also under the name of Duke Crescente.

I was reluctant to say anything uncalled for that can hurt my brother’s honor, so I made a false statement with a grim look on my face.

“….I was in a poor health.”

I’m not saying that was because my mental health wasn’t good.

“Oh my … you must have been struggling for quite a while.”

“Yes. Now that I’ve recovered, I think it’s a miracle that I can come to Her Highness’ party.”

“Lady Adriana—”

Her Highness the Princess patted me on the shoulder with a sad face. I smiled, as if not to worry, and glanced at others.

There was no one to add a word, but with most of the faces around me showing compassion, there was a sense of awkwardness on the faces of some.

I don’t know their names, but they’re the ladies of Sharon’s group. Young girls who used to gossip about me, as seen from the center of the crowd, could not come near, but some of them, who were on the outside of the group, clapped in a little bit and flowed in with the atmosphere.

And since they were close to Sharon … they didn’t just hear the gossip about me, they would have heard it directly from Sharon’s mouth.

“Oh my god—” one of the awkward-looking young ladies let out a slight sigh. Then, with cold eyes, the side of Sharon dropped short.

It was enough to think Sharon had been lying.

Those who only heard the rumors may think ‘it’s being grossly exaggerated’, but someone who hears it directly from the mouth of the person who spread it can not think so.

Of course not everyone will think so. If they’re truly a close friend of Sharon, or if they are virtuous by sticking to her, they may believe in Sharon’s words and dismiss mine as false.

But they will realize it in the future.

How unnourished it is to be fooled by a fake young lady Crescente.

✴️✴️✴️

The atmosphere in the carriage back to the mansion was harsh.

When I went to the palace, I came separately, but when I went back, it was strange to do it, so I had to ride the same carriage as my stepmother and sister. Leah got on the carriage with the other maids.

The two women in my company had stiff expressions that did not suit their fancy attire. I looked frightened in front of them as if I knew nothing.

“Why—why do you have such a scary looks? Are you still not feeling very well, Mother?”

“Don’t be so silly! It’s because of you! Why did you say you weren’t coming to the party?”

“Oh—no! I had a bad memory of party, so I thought about it until the end. I’ve never made up my mind not to go….”

Scared, I shrugged my shoulder at Sharon’s preserve remarks, but said all I had to say. I’ve never actually said I’m not going to the party. They’ve got a wild guess.

“Why are you talking back to me?! I was so overjoyed that I was invited to Her Highness’ party—”

“All right, Sharon. That’s enough. More than that, Riana, where did you get that dress?”

“Huh? This is the dress Mother gave to me. Oh, of course, it was a lot different from what it was like at the beginning … but the design didn’t suit my taste, so I changed it a little. I’m sorry … I’m so sorry … I’ve been mended….”

“You fixed the dress? Who….?”

Marianne’s angry face filled with wonder.

There are no maids came in or out of my room recently. To ensure confidentiality, I ordered Leah to run errands.

If there’s someone who’s been in my room for a long time and has helped me, Marianne would not have been able to get over it. She would be bewildered.

Leah was assigned to me because she wasn’t good at this job. So there is no such thing as a way to repair a dress like this.

She wouldn’t even think I would have done it.

Now, let’s try to be friendly.